Got Snow?

The storm started yesterday afternoon, and the drive home was awful - OK I didn't have to do it myself because I worked from home. It took my next door neighbor almost 2 hours to drive from down town Salt Lake.

Jon was out snowblowing the driveway last night at 8:30 just so that he could pull his car in off the street. This morning we woke up to over a foot, and he had to go do it - again. The Jordan School District postponed schools by 2 hours. They're saying this impacts 90 schools and ~80,000 students.

Can you imagine how wound up all the kids are going to be today? All the snow, couple hours to mess around, and lots of sugar. I'm glad I'm not a teacher today.

One final thought - the kids have obviously had enough snow. I can't see a single one of them playing outside. From my computer room window I can see five front yards, and none of them have footprints.

These are photos of my friend Darren's house in American Fork Canyon - near where the kids had to spend the night at their elementary school. The stamped concrete is 30" wide, so the pile of snow is ~5 ft high! Notice the lack of footprints here as well - of course they can hardly get out of their front doors...


Here's a link to a story about the storm:

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=2661908

Things I Love about Jon... (It is Valentine's Day after all)

Valentine's Day - 1993 - 15 years ago - Jon asked me to marry him. I'd gotten back from an engineering conference in Seattle late Valentine's night. Jon met me at the airport to drive me back to Logan. My plane was late, and by the time we got on the freeway it was about 11:45 pm. Jon didn't want to forever hear stories about how he proposed the day after Valentine's, so as we got on I-215 and headed east, he took a deep breath, pointed out the Salt Lake Temple, and asked, "That's romantic, huh?" I just sat there perplexed, and he popped the ole question. Not exactly the scenario I'd thought I'd get, but memorable all the same.

I made a book for Jon's 32nd birthday that contained 32 reasons that I loved him. It's been a few years since I put it together, but reading through it sure helps reinforce that I made the right choice that Valentine's night. Making such a list is a fabulous exercise - if you haven't tried it, you should.

Here are my February 2008 Top 10 Favorite Things about Jon (had to put the date in there because this is a dynamic list):

1. The sound of his voice - Jon's deep, melodious voice carries very well (Have to admit that I don't think melodious and Jon have ever been combined in the same sentence. Dang romance novels) Even in a room full of people, I can close my eyes, listen to him talk, and walk right to him.


2. His wake up routine - I tell him to get out of bed about every 10 minutes for half an hour. He finally gets up, goes pee, and then gets back in bed - to stretch his back. Just so you know - I have found other ways to wake him over the past 15 years, but this is a family blog. What were you thinking?


3. The number of pillows he needs to sleep comfortably - When we got married he had the f-l-a-t-t-e-s-t pillow I'd ever seen. Now he has one for his feet, one for his knees, one at his back, one to hug, one for his head, and one against the headboard so that his hand has a place to rest and doesn't have to be left without any fluff. Did I mention that we also have a pillow top mattress and sleep under a down comforter? It's a bit of heaven I assure you.


4. His love of breakfast - He always makes sure the boys or hunting companions have a good breakfast before taking on the day. Could be oatmeal, chocolate cake with milk, fried eggs, or cinnamon toast. Doesn't matter - everyone gets food in their tummies before they walk out the door.


5. How he gets nervous - He is not a big fan of change. It is endearing to me to know that even my well-endowed tough guy has things that make him uneasy. (That 'well-endowed' part was added after he read through this and was disappointed that I hadn't mentioned the size of his manliness. How's that, Sweet?)


6. How he wears shorts year round - Doesn't matter that it's snowing like a banshee and you can't see 1-foot in front of your face - Jon will be outside wearing wool socks, boots, and his down parka, but the knees will be bare.


7. He loves my Christmas village - Most years he's more anxious than I am to get this thing out. Of course, he moves that rubber lizard around so it's a daily adventure to see in which branch of the sewer it must have been swimming. Then there's Mr. Timms - the hotel bellhop. Mr. Timms gets awful depressed over the holidays, and he has a tendency to climb tall buildings looking for the best jumping spot. Never a dull day in Christmas in the City!


8. Nightly backrubs - I have a favorite type of comb that has become sacred at our house. It has a comb on one end and a metal pick at the other. If the boys have gone to bed and one of these combs can't be located, they will be dragged downstairs for the treasure hunt. (OK so this is one of my diva-quirks. In a house where I'm the lone female, I'm allowed) On any given night after the boys are in bed, I can go sit on the floor by the couch, and Jon will use said comb to tickle my back.


9. He's the laid back one - I love that he lets me be the one to get uptight about stuff. It'd put me over the edge if both of us took up the habit.


10. Sanctuary - I love that no matter what, Jon has a space for me within his arms and that regardless of the noise and distractions within or outside our home, he gives me moments where I'm exactly where I need to be.

So - Jonny - thank you for being the man I go to sleep with at night, wake up with in the morning, and most important - being the person that I most anticipate seeing or hearing every single day. You help me laugh at myself, thoroughly love and enjoy the 3 incredible boys we've created, and make our home a place I relish.

I love you.

We got walloped!!!

I know I mentioned it in my Christmas card, but my neighbors really are amazing. There are 7 men (including my fabulous Jon of course - see how much he's enjoying himself?!)snowblowing/shoveling/plowing the sidewalks, driveways and street. There's a 4-wheeler out there, and someone's located a front-end loader that they're using to plow the road (with this much snow and more expected through tomorrow, West Jordan City will get the major road through our neighborhood plowed probably on Tuesday or Wednesday. It'll probably be next weekend before they make it to the misc neighborhood streets.) There are kids out throwing snowballs at the shovelers, and it looks like someone took hot chocolate out to them all. I went out to snap photos, and someone raced by on a snowmobile.

We woke up to honestly blizzard conditions this morning. The wind was unbelievable. The snow was plastering so hard against the west-facing windows that they were completely covered with ice. These pictures don't provide the perspective, but the drifts in our back yard are about 3 feet high. Good thing the snow's let up a bit - I think our neighbors Gary and Debbie would have 2 extra dogs in their back yard. Hilo wold be over the fence in a heartbeat. Kona would be a little more reserved, but she'd follow him. They both must have found their brains though - I tried to get photos of them, but they're nowhere to be seen. Hope that means they're in their doghouses.

I've told my boys about one particular storm that hit while I was at my Grandpa's house in Burley when I was quite a bit younger. The snow had drifted between the house and the pasture, and Grandpa had to dig a tunnel through it so that he could get out there to feed the cows. I remember that drift being almost as tall as Grandpa. This storm is probably the closest my 3 city boys will ever see.

That's all for now - there's a party going on outside and I'm missing it!